January 20, 2010

Not So Macarons

I am so curious to know that someone can make macarons without almond powder. What's it like, I wonder? And so, I follow the recipe and bake them.

The recipe does not call to whip your egg whites until its peak, but just mix all the ingredients together until thicken. It is just like making royal icing for your Christmas fruit cake, unless this one is baked. Yeah, baked royal icing.

They do have feet once they are baked at a suggested oven temperature (though I have to adjust it to 130C for my oven), are as sweet as macarons are, but they tend much flatter in appearance, too crisp without any 'flesh' the original macarons will be. They do not have the moistness as the result of the combination of almond powder, sugars, and egg whites the original French macarons will have. Once you bite, you just find a sandwich of meringues rather than the softness and sweetness of macarons. I do think the use of almond powder is the real key to make a macaron as it is.

However, for some reason, they probably cost much cheaper in a country where almond powder is so poorly available. It is a clever idea, anyway, in one way.

I made two batches of these meringue macarons. One batch is plain and sandwiched with rosewater and rose petals cream Chantilly.

And the other batch is coffee meringue macarons, sandwiched with cappuccino chocolate. I found out that oval shape of macarons is quite pretty. I just spoon them with the tip of soup spoon.

Here is the recipe.

Macarons

by Yeni Ismayani

100g egg whites

400g icing sugar

2 Tbs cornflour

chocolate paste, optional

Whip all the ingredients until thicken. Divide the batter, if you use colouring or paste. Spoon into piping bag and pipe blobs on lightly greased baking trays (I stick with my good baking paper). Let rest for 10 minutes or until the blobs are flattened. Bake in a preheated oven to 170C for 10 minutes. Open the oven for 5 minutes, close again and turn the temperature down to 120C (I just use 130C from the start until all the batter is used) until cooked and dry. Remove from the oven, cool. Peel off of the trays and keep in an airtight-container. Use as required.

Oh i just read ... congratulations on the new one on the way :)N hey these look just as gorgeous ! Give them your own name and for all you know they'll be even more popular than macarons :) They looks so beautiful n i love the delicate rose on top. So pretty :)

Oh i just read ... congratulations on the new one on the way :)N hey these look just as gorgeous ! Give them your own name and for all you know they'll be even more popular than macarons :) They looks so beautiful n i love the delicate rose on top. So pretty :)

@ All: thank you.@ Alessandra: thank you for the book! Would treasure it :)@ WizzyTheStick: do you mean foolproof? yeah, I guess this one is less tricky than the regular macarons. If you are able to make meringues, then you can make these ones too :) good luck!

Mbak Arfi,Wooww..your macaroons are so beautiful..I still can't make nice feet..blame it on the humidity..it will take more than an hour to develope a hard shell..hehehe...Btw,thanks for the recipe,mbak, since almond powder is quite expensive here..I wonder if we can replace the almond powder with other nuts like cashew nuts or canary nuts? hmmmm...

Finally! I have an allergy to almonds and have been looking for a recipie for macarons without them for such a long time! I tried them when in Japan where they make them with peanut meal, so I'm glad I can get them again.